14 million under poverty line in Algeria, group says

The Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LADDH) said on Friday that there are 14 million Algerians living below the poverty line in the country, Anadolu reported.

This number, the group said, represents 35 percent of the Algerian population which is 40 million.

In a statement, LADDH said the statistics were published on October 17 to mark the World Day against Poverty.

LADDH stated that this high number of the poor reflected the bad economic situation of the country, noting that the study included 4,500 samples. All confirmed that their daily income is less than $1.45, which is the poverty line stipulated by the UN.

The group noted different forms of poverty in Algeria, citing deteriorating living standards, poor healthcare services, high rate of unemployment, an increase among Algerians seeking migration and increasing number of beggars.

According to LADDH, which is an NGO, the official numbers contradict its findings, as the Ministry of Solidarity said that there are only 700,000 poor Algerian families. The Ministry of Religious Affairs said that there are approximately 660,000 poor families, while the Algerian Red Crescent Committee said that it counted 15,000 poor families.